verb

Definition:

The part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being. See also: All About Verbs.

Types and Forms of Verbs:

• Aspect
• Auxiliary Verb
• A-Verbing
• Base Form
• Catenative Verb
• Causative Verb
• Copula
• Dynamic Verb & Stative Verb
• Finite Verb & Nonfinite Verb
• Intransitive Verb & Transitive Verb
• Irregular Verb & Regular Verb
• Lexical Verb
• Light Verb
• Linking Verb
• Modal
• Mood
• Performative Verb
• Phrasal Verb
• Prepositional Verb
• Principal Parts
• Reporting Verb
• Tense
• Voice

Etymology:

From the Latin, "word"

Examples and Observations:

• "A better way to recognize the verb . . . is by its form, its -s and -ing ending; verbs also have an -ed and an -en form, although in the case of some irregular verbs these forms are not readily apparent. And every verb, without exception, can be marked by auxiliaries."
  (M. Kolln, Understanding English Grammar, 1998)



• "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
  (Theodore Roosevelt)



• "First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you."
  (F. Scott Fitzgerald)



• "In the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider."
  (Jimmy Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life)



• "Automobiles, skirting a village green, are like flies that have gained the inner ear--they buzz, cease, pause, start, shift, stop, halt, brake, and the whole effect is a nervous polytone curiously disturbing."
  (E.B. White, "Walden")



• "Behind the phony tinsel of Hollywood lies the real tinsel."
  (Oscar Levant)



• "Some people say that I must be a terrible person, but it is not true. I have the heart of a young boy in a jar on my desk."
  (Stephen King)



• "Most metaphysical words in Hopi are verbs, not nouns as in European languages."
  (Benjamin Whorf)



• "Don't you dare use 'party' as a verb in my shop."
  (Dylan Moran, Black Books)

Pronunciation: vurb

Also Known As: verb phrase